Where did my summer go? May!! Represent!!

Well, it's the end of Summer 2009. I feel like once I got back from Spain and Italy, it has all been a huge blur. From graduations to births to family reunions to conferences to holidays and rodeos...it's been a VERY eventful summer.
So, we'll start with MAY.
On May 8, 2009, Maggie Luella Wilde was born to Katie Marie and Sefton. I got the call about 6 o'clock in the morning, went to work for a couple hours, then quickly went up to Preston to see my new little niece! (Isn't she adorable!!! All that hair! Just like her mama! (and possibly her Daddy, I'm not sure. Sef, I've never seen baby pictures of you! Remedy.))

Mothers Day was wonderful as we gathered as a family to bless Marc & Michelle's new little boy...Will Herr Mumford-- born January 9, 2009.

They joked that he would about be able to walk up to the circle to be blessed. This is because Marc & Michelle were moving from Los Angeles to Salt Lake and just barely moved into their new home. It was a fantastic day.

The next week I flew to AZ to see my brother Brad graduate from Arizona State University's Law School

Turns out he was sort of smart...graduated with distinction and everything! (Just kidding, Brad. I always knew you were brilliant. All my siblings are.) One thing I thought was cool was that they made a point of noting how many marriages and children were made during their 3 years at school. I love that they still celebrate those milestones when society gives a message that those things are not as important as money or a career. Speaking of children. Brad and Cassi were part of that number.

Congratulations Brad and Cassi!

My brother Marc celebrated a birthday on the 18th! (Yes, I'm still in denial.) I keep telling everyone that I used to be the oldest of 8, and now I'm in the middle. I now have 3 older brothers and a twin! (Baa Haa turned 29 on Sept 5th!)

The end of the month took me to Los Angeles for a week. I just got a new position in February and I had my first professionals conference. IT WAS HUGE!!! The event was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown LA. Being a rookie, I made some mistakes. I should have come in on Tuesday instead of Saturday. The LA Marathon was ran on Memorial Day, so there were 20000 runners right at my hotel. Thankfully, they had a pool and I just stayed put the whole day. I did get to walk around the city a bit. It was a lot of fun. Some of my colleagues, Dr. Settle and Dr. Flores (Enoc) were there too. Enoc and I were on a committee together and we always have fun when we go to these conferences. Because they had a car, I went out to an outlet mall with them. The first one we went to, we thought we were going to be hacked to bits. Outside the building, all these high end vehicles...inside the building...yeah, it could have been any number of country's underground. Korean, Italian, Russian. They were all represented. We got out alive.
So May was awesome! Love it!

I've got Tiffany wrapped around my finger!

So, you may or may not recall the tragedy last winter of me losing my favorite ring. It was a ring my brother and sister in-law bought for me while they were in New York. Next to my New York Yankee's hat...the best souvenir of that town that I could ask for! (And I didn't even have to ask.) I cried for days after it got lost in that wicked snowstorm, and am still saddened that even after the thaw I didn't find it--and I looked!

Well, I decided to purchase a new one. I have gone back and forth on this because the sentimental value alone made that ring priceless. But I reasoned that if replacing the ring brought the same feeling and joy and reminded me of my brother and sister in-law instead of the losing of the first ring, then I should go for it.

So, I did it.

Snow??? What snow??